In This World

I was over reading Renee's post and she and I apparently have a lot of the same thoughts. In this post she was talking about how she lives in a hole (read her post for all the thought-provoking details). I COMPLETELY relate to that. We don't have TV or listen to secular music or anything like that and so I'm lucky to know if it's supposed to snow tomorrow or not. I just kind of take it day by day and hey, if it's something huge I'll get it through the grapevine. The downside to our joint hole-living is that we aren't informed about the big things that can affect our lives. 

Politically I am very conservative and I don't like hearing about the things going on in America. I personally imagine our country's forefathers rolling in their graves. I don't believe they worked as hard as they did to gain our freedom so we could take it for granted the way we do. Even the non-political stuff I don't want to know about. I don't need to hear about the murders, burglaries, debt, illnesses, etc. that are plaguing the world. I know they exist, but I don't want to be brought down by them.

So here's the question: How do I gain the knowledge I need to so I can be compassionate and an advocate for the victims of the evils I see and not be sucked into the hype, the drama, and the "mud" that is the media?

Jesus calls us to be in this world but not of this world. That's a fine line for us Christians to take care not to cross. There's so much that's being flung at us and pressures are so great to become like the rest of the world. We can't look at the rest of the world in a haughty I'm-better-than-you way and ignore the evils surrounding us. But we can't have a if-you-can't-beat-'em-then-join-'em attitude either.

My personal opinion on how to possibly overcome this? Be like Jesus. Follow Jesus. Look to His Word for how. Jesus Himself came to this fallen world and dwelt among us. He knew what was going on in the world, but rose above it and provides the only way to get out of the world. He is bigger than anything in this world, no matter how ugly it gets. I believe that if we just look to Him and adopt a WWJD type of attitude then we can find the balance that many of us struggle with.